Trust Thy Foe
by Venquine1990
Summary: What if Sly isn't the only one who had an eye for Carmelita? What if this other guy didn't have Sly's gentlemen kind of tendencies? What would Carmelita have to do to get rid of a guy like that? And what kinds of pain could he cause her? Find out as Carmelita finds out it's not always a bad thing to Trust Thy Foe. WARNING RATED M! FOR A REASON! NOT 18 OR OLDER, DO NOT READ!


_**Hey everyone,  
**__**Just want to let you know that this was supposed to be a simple Story plan – like Parental Interventions, but that's another case – yet that, while working on it, my fingers just kept flying and that I suddenly realized; damn, this thing has 10 pages already. By that time the story was nearly finished, so I decided to do that.  
**__**The story itself has 16 pages on Word and is NOT SUPPOSED TO BE READ BY THOSE UNDER 18! I know this site maintains a very strict PG-rule system and while there are hints thrown out of adult themes and stuff like that, have I tried my very, very hardest to keep it to mentions and not to actual written acts.  
**__**Okay, enjoy,**_

_**Venquine1990**_

* * *

_**Carmelita's POV**_

Looking at the postcard of Cooper, his team and the Spanish sea showing in the background, while the entire gang is dressed up like pirates and doing the polonaise, do I again read the little bit of text saying: _Wish you were here_ that is obviously written in Cooper's handwriting and that makes me sigh as I look up and whisper:  
"And I wish this was you." As I look at the kinky outfit laid out on my bed, an outfit that is meant for someone who works at a brothel and not someone who is a high-ranked officer of Interpol. The outfit itself disgusts me, yet it's the card in my hand that tears at my heart the most as it takes away my last bit of hope.  
Hope that that disgusting piece of vermin, that I thought I had left behind when I graduated from college, was indeed my stalker, hope that it had actually been Cooper, who had always used his silver tongue to get away from me while I chased him after he had pulled a heist against another criminal, hope that I was safe from Robert.

Looking from the outfit on my bed to the card in my hand and back again, do I feel despair and anguish tear at my heart as I know that I can't ask my parents for help as my dad would tear all of Interpol down and make me be jobless and I can't ask my brother either as he wouldn't be able to arrive before my next job.  
I also know that I can't rely on my boss as Barkley is actually Robert's father and has been giving me the most subtle of hints over the last four years that he is perfectly aware of his son's actions, constantly putting me out on another mission just when I have, again, gathered up the courage to tell Interpol about my stalker.  
"I can't tell my parents as it'll make me lose my job, I can't tell my brother as he's in America and won't get a plane ticket here in time and I can't even rely on my job as Barkley already knows of his son's actions and will fight me tooth and nail to keep those actions from becoming known to Interpol. So who can I go to?"

Goes through my mind as I lean against the wall of my bedroom, my eyes wet with tears that I am unwilling to shed in fear that that rat is currently watching me and just when I think to myself of who to go to, do I hear a strange crunching noise, making me look down and realize that I am squeezing the post card together.  
I flatten it out once again and look at the picture up front, the happy faces of the Cooper Gang smiling up at me from the deck of the photographed ship deck and again do my eyes stray to the words _Wish you were here_, Cooper's handwriting making me realize that I have only one other option left, only one person left to turn to.  
Hating how desperate this will make me look, do I decide that if I am going to ask my greatest enemy for help, I will make sure he takes this seriously and with that do I lie the card down and do I take my camera out of my backpack, taking a picture off the suit on my bed before heading to my second closet build into my wall.  
I open the closet and take pictures of everything inside it, all of the pieces of cloth and toys that my disgusting stalker has been sending me over the last four years before I close the door again, hoping this will be the last time I will have to open it. I then turn to the drawer standing beside the closet and pull open the second drawer.

Zipping down the zipper of my bra-like shirt, do I take off the piece of cloth, that has an in-build corset like all of my other shirts, and do I replace it for the only shirt that has an in-build bra fit to accommodate my chest size. Sighing at how large the shirt actually is, do I put the shirt on and zip it up at the front.  
I then head over to my computer and turn it on, making sure to turn it away from my windows as I open my Paint file and start working, focusing on making a plan of attack that screams criminal activity and that is centered around something highly valuable, hoping with all that I am that I can get Cooper's interest through this.

_**Sly's POV**_

We've just returned from returning the favor to Dimitri and helping him retrieve his Uncle's Diving Gear. That the Iguana decided to join the Cooper Gang in return for our help was definitely a bonus none of us had expected, yet while not everything he says makes sense, do Bentley and I agree that he will be a valuable asset.  
By now we've all been in our regular hide out for a few days, some of mentally preparing themselves for the big heist on the Cooper Vault, others just trying to get used to staying in a brand new hideout, when suddenly Bentley asks me: "Hey Sly, care for a Team Test out in the field?" And while this confuses me, do I say:  
"I don't know, Bentley, I think our team's pretty ready out in the field already. I don't think there's any need for that." To which Bentley shows me a blueprint of one of Paris most famous museum and asks: "Not even for this?" And when he motions for an amazing aquamarine gem that is shown on the blueprint, do I smirk and ask:  
"Who's the criminal we're stealing from?" But the turtle shakes his head and says: "It's no criminal. The Blue Viper Gang is planning to work together with Jack Lesterious to get this and Jack told them that, whoever gets in his way, is to be eliminated. They're planning this for tomorrow so –." The turtle ends and I say:

"We best make sure they lose all reason to attack innocent bystanders, out for some fun in the museum." The turtle nods and I ask: "Can we make a plan before tomorrow?" And the turtle turns his screen back to himself as he smirks and says: "We've been heisting from this museum quite a few times, already.  
We won't be needing a plan as we can just stick with some of our old plans and tweak it to include our new co-workers, which should actually make the heist even easier." At this I smirk at my best friend and while he lays out one of our older plans do I stretch myself in all directions, ready for some night time fun.

_**Carmelita's POV**_

"I know I shouldn't be doing this, that I am risking everything I have ever stood for, but dang it, Cooper is my only hope in this. If he can't get that jerk arrested I'll never be able to get rid of him. If Cooper can't do it, I might as well quit my job and make for a new life elsewhere. No, I won't let it come to that. Cooper is my only hope."  
Goes through my mind, one of my hands wanting to toy with the badge that I usually have hanging from the necklace around my neck, except that tonight – to show Cooper that I mean business – I have taken the badge off my necklace and had kept it at home alongside my usual Interpol yellow jacket and my fighter boots.  
Instead of that do I now were a long dark blue dress that has an attachable jacket of soft white silk draped over it to protect my shoulders against the cold nighttime air and am I wearing a pair of shoes that both look elegant and can be used for a good run through the woods, shoes I am hoping not having to put to use tonight.

I am waiting silently in the room where the gem is located, hoping beyond hope that Cooper took my bait and that I made the blueprints I send him look like the actual plans of some devious criminal, especially because Jack Lesterious is definitely on Interpol's hit-list of highly dangerous and almost murderous criminals.  
It had not been fun to chose this man for the fake heist blueprints I had made on my computer and I had deleted and used the inner workings of my computer to take out any and all evidence that the blueprints came from me as soon as they had been received by Bentley's computer, not wanting to remind myself of my actions ever again.  
Having hidden myself in the shadows, do I feel more and more worried that either Bentley or the new techwizz of the Cooper Gang, Penelope, had discovered where the blueprints came from or that another members knew that Lesterious hadn't planned heists like this at all, but then finally I get my reward for my patience.

Quite as a night filled with stars, does Cooper lower himself down a ventilation system up in the ceiling of the room, the way he twists and swings on the rope attached to his back proving me that, at some points he is getting help from the one holding the rope and at other points that he has more techniques up his sleeve than I knew.  
Waiting for the raccoon to reach the glass encasement of the opal, do I see him pluck a small cutting knife out of the hip pouch attached to his left leg and say: "Stop right there, Sly." Shocking the Raccoon enough he almost drops the knife. The animal turns around and I walk myself out of the shadow in which I was hiding.  
The raccoon's eyes widen and I say: "You're not taking that gem, Ringtail, I have a different treasure for you to steal instead." This actually makes the raccoon drop a few inches, proving I have shocked whoever is holding him and before the raccoon can hit the ground, does the rope around his waist tighten yet again.  
"A – different treasure- inspector?" The Raccoon asks with hesitancy in his voice and while part of me is screaming at me, telling me that this is the chance I have been waiting for all these years, do I silence that with the fear I feel for my stalker and say: "Yes, Cooper, one I think you will find much more valuable than a gem."

"It's not the gem, Sly, remember why we're doing this!" I can actually hear Bentley scream through Cooper's Ear-communicator and the Raccoon shrugs at me as he says: "Sorry Carmelita, your words intrigue me, but –." And while feeling my earlier despair rise back up, do I shout: "I send that blueprint to Bentley!"  
Shocking the Ringtail and his partner yet again and causing for Sly to be only two inches above the ground before his partner reapplies strength to his hold on the rope. Yet the Raccoon himself doesn't even notice this as his eyes are aimed at me, the wide brown color in them making me feel as if I'm in some unwanted spotlight and he asks:  
"You – wait, what?" And while feeling amused that I actually got Cooper shocked out of his usual wit, do I continue and say: "I send Bentley the blueprints. I had to – I – I didn't know who else to turn to." At this concern starts to grow in the Raccoon's eyes and I say: "I said I had a more valuable treasure and I meant it, my future."  
Instantly I can almost see the Raccoon's fur tense in shock and I finally recognize who's holding the rope as I hear Murray ask: "Did she just say her future, Sly?" To which the Raccoon nods and I say: "Please, just knock me out, take me with you and I'll explain everything. As far as Interpol knows I'm at home and I want to keep it like that."

At this Sly reaches for his ear and asks: "What say you, Bentley?" And the turtle answers: "I don't know, Sly, she sounds pretty desperate. And besides that, did I check the IP-address of the blueprints and they actually match with Carmelita's home computer. She's telling the truth." And this seems to convince the Raccoon before me.  
He puts the knife back in his hip pouch and reaches onto his back, pulling the wooden cane with gold, bended angle at the top from a canister on his back and swinging it in his hand as he says: "This will hurt me more than it will hurt you, understand that?" And I nod before I see the golden end swing my way and lose consciousness.

_**Sly's POV**_

Knocking Carmelita out cold was something I had never had to do before as usually either our surroundings or the criminals we were both chasing would be enough to distract her and give me a chance to escape. Yet the desperate fear I had seen shining in her amber brown eyes had convinced me this was for the best.  
Murray had pulled me up the minute I had caught the amazing vixen from falling and while putting my cane back in the canister, had I made sure that Carmelita was held comfortably in my arms, being very careful with her as I crawled through the air-vent that Penelope had cleared out for us with her RC Car before the heist.  
Panda King had been waiting for us at the outside entrance of the ventilation system and he had carried Carmelita to the van as if she were made of the most Ancient of Chinese silver, which had been on my orders before I had allowed for her to be released from my hold and Murray and I had hurried on after the Panda.  
Dimitri had already been waiting behind the wheel and Penelope already had her RC car and her RC chopper to cause a distraction that would make any possible guard or police officer chase the vehicles away from our position and make it easier for us to escape undetected, something that had been proven unnecessary.

The fact that Carmelita had come alone and that she had taken off her Interpol Badge and Jacket had been the last bits of evidence that the team had needed to see just how desperate the vixen actually is and my worries for her had sky-rocketed, making me know that this might just be the day where I had to become firm about my future with her.  
We had arrived at the hideout and with Murray and Panda King besides me to help me carry her, had I laid Carmelita out on our best couch, Penelope quickly making sure the fox was comfortable with a pillow under her head and a blanket draped over her body, yet when the blanket had been laid down, had I noticed something.  
The area of Carmelita's chest that was covered by the blanket was much larger and seemed to cover more of Carmelita's skin than necessary. Penelope had assessed this as none of us had been wanting to be rude to touch a lady in that area and when she had told me that it had been Carmelita's cleavage I had been shocked.

Instantly I had wanted her to be awake so I could ask her how this was possible, a question Bentley voiced as Carmelita's upper body outfit never showed a cleavage of this size and Penelope had muttered about it being possible that she was wearing a corset, making us wonder why such a beautiful fox would wear that.  
Penelope had been most curious about this, worrying me even more as she told me that – seeing she herself had seen Carmelita's usual outfit – the size of her corset must be very hurtful compared to the size of her cleavage and while part of me wonders if this has to do with Carmelita needing our help, had I been patient.  
All of us had been, sitting on the couches surrounding the one Carmelita lay on and waiting for her to wake up. Only Murray had left the group, telling us he would prepare dinner and me responding to that by reminding him to make an extra plate for Carmelita. After this silence had again rang through our living room.

This is now almost twenty minutes ago and I am starting to get highly worried that I might have hit her on the wrong side of her head or that I had put too much power behind my swing, but then suddenly the fox stirs and a soft groan escapes her throat, making relief soar through my body as I move closer to her.  
Her breath-taking brown eyes slowly flutter open and instantly settle upon me, confusion shining within them as she asks: "Cooper?" Making me ask: "I hit you too hard, didn't I?" And this seems to make the woman remember what had happened before she passed out, making her shake her head before she asks:  
"Am I? Did you take –?" And I nod at both her questions, making the woman sigh as she sits up, apparently shocked to feel the blanket fall off of her, while I myself feel shocked at seeing the evidence to her having worn corsets all these years as her cleavage is definitely a much bigger size than it ever was before.

Then suddenly Murray distracts me from this incredible size as he walks into the room and says: "Dinnertime – oh, good timing to wake, Carmelita." And while I release a small snicker at my friend's obviousness, do I raise my hand to help Carmelita up, her wobbly legs proving she is still dazed from fainting.  
I help her into the dinner room and over to one of the seats of the table that Bentley had started extending after we had decided to start collecting new members for the Cooper Gang before taking a seat myself and smiling widely as I see that Murray has decided to make his newest specialty – pasta with cream and tomato sauce.  
The specialty had come from our caper in Venice when one of Octavio's henchman, who had been guarding a coffee shop, had told me of how much he loved eating his mother's pasta and when Murray, after this caper, had heard of this news, had he vowed to make a pasta that would make me want to do what the henchman had said.  
And boy, had Murray come through as only 3 weeks later, he had made a spaghetti pasta that had instantly made me exclaim the same thing as the henchman, that I wanted to be buried in this amazing sauce and while Murray had laughed at my shout, had this whole thing taken place 3 days before our trip to the Australian Outback.  
After this had Murray, Bentley and I agreed that we would welcome new team members with a dinner of spaghetti pasta and when the others had tasted the pasta had they all exclaimed similar things to my shout and had they agreed that such a good meal should be preserved for special occasions – which I find Carmelita's presence to be one.

"Good call, big guy, making your latest specialty to make Inspector Fox feel a little more at ease with her current situation." Bentley then words my thoughts and Carmelita, while smiling in gratitude at my Hippo friend, then turns a worried eye at the turtle and says: "Please, I'm not on duty, call me Carmelita, if you would."  
And just the fact that she wants a bunch of criminals to call her by her first name makes the alarm bells in my mind ring twice as hard as before, which is something I share with Bentley as he gasps and asks: "First name base? What exactly is going on, Carmelita?" But then Murray glares at him and firmly says:  
"No talk like that, not during dinner." And while I wonder if he's trying to give Carmelita more time or if he feels uncomfortable with calling her by her first name, do we still all agree with the hippo and just enjoy the delicious meal, Murray's sauce melting on my tongue and making my taste buds feel gloriously rich with flavor.

After this do Dimitri and Panda King offer to do the dishes, while Penelope and I help Carmelita back to her seat, me offering her the blanket a second time, which she waves away, but which also makes her smile at me gratefully before Bentley asks: "What's going on, Carmelita? And why come to us and not Interpol or your folks?"  
At this the fox cringes and while holding the blanket in my hand, ready to offer it to her again at a moment's notice and she says: "I can't go to my parents as – if they hear about this – they will completely demolish Interpol and put me without a job. And I can't go to Interpol, because – well – the chief already knows, anyway."  
"He knows and he's not helping solve this problem? Why?" Penelope asks and another shiver racks Carmelita's frame, making me lie the blanket over her regardless of her earlier refusal, making me receive another grateful smile before the fox pull the blanket tightly around her frame and starts to softly mutter:

"It all started the summer before I went to college. I had just started developing my – my lady parts and – and I was, so proud as there were few in my family who develop at that early age. But when – when I came to College as a Junior and even the seniors started to notice that my cleavage was the size of a senior, did everything change."  
At this I worry for the incredible inspector, while the reason behind her suddenly grown cleavage now finally seems clear to me and while she keeps herself covered by the blanket, does she continue: "There was a boy in Senior's year, who would graduate a year later, who was very much into touching the female parts.  
He was suspended and almost expelled several times during those two years and more times than not –." Here the fox stops and already I get what she's saying as Murray asks: "You were his victim of attempting to touch?" And the nod of the fox besides me makes my Inner Coon rage up in possessive rage and fury.

Mentally pushing down on these urges as I know this story is only half finished and feel that my lady needs me more than that I should need to have revenge, do I ask: "Did he – succeed?" The Fox shakes her head and says: "Like I said, he graduated the year after. And – upon my own – graduation – did I believe I was rid of him for good.  
His father and he had been there when I graduated, apparently because my year had scored the highest of two decades and because his father had been appointed a high rank in the department I had been wanting to start at. His father had spoken to mine at the ceremony and given us both his word, I would never meet with his son again."

At this Carmelita sighs, indicating that either the father was lying or that the bastard had found a way around the words and her continuing makes me know it's the second as she says: "Yeah, never meet again – in the physical manner that is. The bastard has been stalking me ever since and his manner of doing so –."  
And the amazing shiver that follows these words, heavy enough Carmelita almost drops the blanket, makes me react on instinct and makes me pull her closely against me, wanting only to offer her my comfort and hating whoever dares to frighten such an amazingly adamant person. The others seem just as disgusted and Bentley asks:  
"Do you know his name, Carmelita?" And while the woman keeps shivering in my arms, does she nod nonetheless and while I give my team a very clear glance, telling them silently to know when to stop, does Carmelita mutter: "His name is the whole reason I can't go and report this at Interpol; it's Robert Barkley."

This causes for shocks to rack through all of us and Penelope asks: "Barkley? You mean that your own boss is this bastard's father?" Carmelita nods while I suddenly notice how there are actually tears leaking from her eyes, proving me that this is a matter that has been playing in Carmelita's life for a long while and she says:  
"Exactly, and he knows that his son is doing this. I know that because – because every – every time I want to go and report, Barkley interrupts me and sends me away, giving his son a new chance to break into my house and leave a little gift on my bed. And – and the – the gifts –." But the thought of those gifts seem to be Carmelita's breaching point.  
She plasters herself against me and weeps with loud crying sobs, her hands clinging to my shirt and her tears staining my cloth and the fur under it, yet I care none for this as I wrap my arms closely around the love of my life, silently promising myself to pay an unpleasant visit to the Barkley Household later.

Everyone else seems shocked that Carmelita responds like this and while holding my beloved, letting one of my hands go through her hair and moving the other in circles across her back, do I turn my face to Murray and whisper soundlessly: "Hot chocolate." Murray nodding and leaving the room, while glancing back in worry.  
In the mean time, do my friends and I wait for Carmelita to regain herself, none of us having any desire to push her any further as all of us can see, just by how defeated and scared the fox looks while in my arms, how serious the situation is and how long Carmelita has been trying to deal with this all by her lonesome self.  
The notion of her father wrecking Interpol apart if he heard of this is definitely one I can now clearly understand as I have the strong urge to do so myself, if only to punish Barkley for not keeping a closer eye on his own offspring, yet while I am sure my friends and I are all sharing this mindset, am I in no mood to see it happen.

A few minutes later does Carmelita seem to have regained herself as she hiccups and apologizes, but I shake my head silently and allow myself a single touch of romance as I kiss her on top of her hair softly before letting her go, a questioning glance shortly adorning her face before Bentley asks: "You were saying, Carmelita?"  
But the Fox shakes her head and pulls up her backpack, which I had taken off her back before lying her on the couch, before she says: "I have never dared to do anything against this, but – but I know you Cooper Gang and I know you can always make it so that anyone you desire to end up behind bars ends up exactly there."  
At this I know some of my team wants to comment: "Mostly with your help." But none of us say this as we can see just how desperate the fox feels, having realized that she only has criminals to count on to catch a criminal son of her own boss and while she said this, did she take some pictures from her bag and does she stall them on the table.

"These are the gifts he has left me. His behavior in College was the whole reason I started wearing corsets. The – the bra I am wearing now was one I swore not to wear until I was absolutely certain I would never have to deal with the likes of him again. I – I just put it on now to – to make sure you realized the severity of my situation."  
And while most of us nod, have I taken a look at the pictures Carmelita stalled out for us to see. Yet only a single look at them makes the Cooper I feel within me rage like a pride of lions hunting to protect their cubs against intruding feral hyenas and while trying my hardest not to give into these urges, do I shoot up.  
My eyes stay glued to the pictures upon the table, which doesn't help how I feel one slight bit and while I can feel the worried, scared look Carmelita sends me, can I only utter the words: "Murray, Hazard Room, _now_!" And the Hippo nods, his own eyes having been turned to slits to prove he shares my raging fury.  
We both then leave the room, yet at the doorway to the Hazard room, do I feel myself regaining control of my Inner Cooper just long enough I turn to Carmelita, who is now slightly trembling on the couch with Bentley holding her hand in comfort as I growl: "We'll do it." Before rushing into the Hazard Room alongside my big friend.

_**Carmelita's POV**_

"We'll do it." Those were three words I had not been expecting when I had felt Cooper shoot up beside me, the fury that was boiling within him radiating off of him and his fur actually bristling with the anger that seemed to have been growing inside him the longer he kept looking at the pictures, which I had taken for a bad sign.  
Still to hear those words be spoken with such a possessive and angered tone had both confused, amazed, shocked and startled me and when I look around, do I see that those who are in the room with me – as Panda King and Dimitri are still doing the dishes – seem to share in their leader's anger and do I ask:  
"Did he just –?" And Bentley nods before Penelope says: "I'm not surprised. I was expecting a little more anger at such heinous pictures, but I kind of knew that Sly wanted to help you the minute he knocked you out." And while this was pretty much the whole reason I set all of this up, do I still lie against the back of the couch in relief.

Then Bentley, who is still holding my hand in comfort, moves his hand over to my shoulder and softly says: "I'm sorry I ever doubted you, Carmelita. To have lived with a stalker who did things like that and while feeling like there was nothing you could do – I – I feel terrible for every bad thought I ever had about you."  
This makes me smile at the caring, clever turtle and before I turn to Penelope and ask: "Why were you expecting more anger? Cooper kind of surprised me with how angry he got." To this the girl rolls her eyes and says: "Seeing the situation, do I not want to offend you, but if you still haven't seen it, then I'm not the only one needing glasses."  
This confuses me and then Dimitri and Panda King come in, both of them confused when they see that Sly and Murray are missing and Dimitri asks: "Hey, where are leader and Main Man Murray?" Only to get an amazingly loud and furious shout that seems to come from below answer their question before we can.  
The Iguana and Panda look down at their feet and the Panda asks: "What has angered Sly this much exactly?" And all Bentley does is motion for the pictures that are still on the table, Dimitri taking one of them and Panda King looking at it from over his shoulder, both of their eyes widening as Dimitri screams and asks:

"Where did this monstrosity come from?""From Carmelita's stalker, her boss' son and the whole reason she asked for our help." At this both the Iguana and the Panda look shocked and then Dimitri asks: "Boss' kiddy stalk Miss Lady Cop? Does he not know of Main Man Cooper? Is he stupid or just plain blind to facts, bro?"  
And while I wonder what Sly could have to do with Robert, do I sigh nonetheless and say: "In all honesty have I been asking myself whether or not I should ask for your help earlier than now. I – I just – kept away because – because part of me –." And Bentley seems capable of reading my mind as he asks:  
"Because you were hoping it was Sly sending you those outfits?" At this I nod, making Penelope ask: "Why?" While Panda King asks: "What made you change on that?" And I decide to answer the question of the bigger man, diving into my backpack a second time and pulling out the post card Cooper had send me earlier this week.  
I hand it to the Panda and say: "I had always thought that Cooper's sweet words were just his way of staying out of jail. That it was some kind of devious technique he had taught himself to continue his criminal ways. Only when I received that post card together with this outfit on the same day, was I assured it couldn't have been Ringtail."

The group nods and then, while another furious shout rings up from below us, together with the sound of something made of wood and steel being broken into pieces, does Bentley suddenly ask me: "And now that you know that Sly isn't the Stalker, what does that make you think about all those times that he complimented and flirted with you?"  
Wondering if the turtle is really curious or if he's just trying to distract me from my desperation, do I take back the post card from Panda King while Penelope, with a questioning look send my way, gathers up my evidence together and puts it in the front pocket of her dungarees, do I start looking at it for the umpteenth time.  
The way that the sun is setting in the background of the ship deck, the whole gang dressed up bar Panda King and the Guru and the way that Sly is smiling into the camera as his message of _wish you were here_ with a beautiful stamp depicting a dolphin pasted onto the card besides it makes me smile softly as I look at it.

Then, as if the card is like a gateway to my mind, do I feel more and more memories of when Cooper would do something sweet for me, lure me into a way I could arrest some retched criminal, or flirt with me before I start to shoot him in my need to have him arrested and with each of them, can I almost feel something.  
The emotions that Sly must have been feeling every time we traded fake insults with apparent heart-felt flirts and even a few challenging quirky words here and there almost seem to emit from the paper in my hand and through my eyes do they seem capable of reaching my heart, overwhelming me with their power and their depths.  
I then look back at the turtle, suddenly noticing how the floor underneath my feet is now trembling with soft tremors and how there are even more frequent noises of metal and wood being broken, joined by furious shouts of rage and heartfelt anger and while these emotions touch me and tear at me, do I whisper:  
"He loves me – doesn't he?" And Bentley nods, pride showing in the eyes he hides behind his thick glasses and he says: "Yes, Carmelita, he does. And that is exactly why he is so angry right now that he is destroying everything my Hazard Room has to offer. I doubt there will even be a Room left when Sly comes back from there."

This makes me send a worried look at where Cooper left off to, my mind thinking only a single thought: "Won't ruining that room make him get hurt?" But then, just when I think that, do the tremors stop and so do the sounds of things being torn apart and the emotional cries of anger, making us all look down.  
"Either my Hazard Room ran out of Obstacles or Sly finally got his emotions back under control." Bentley mutters and he gets proven that it's option two as a battered Raccoon with several small tears all over his shirt and with most of his fur a complete upturned and tangled at several points walks back from the hallway he walked in earlier.

Instantly my own emotions get the better of me and I run for him, my hands going over his fur and his cloths, my mind only on checking him for possible injuries, before suddenly his smooth voice reaches my ears as he asks: "Carmelita, what are you doing?" And I look up, straight into his curious, shocked brown eyes.  
Looking into them, I can only remember all those times where they would smile at me and where they would shine with an emotion I couldn't quite fathom and while feeling stupid for not realizing sooner that it was love I saw, do I respond in the only way my heart tells me to, I wrap my arms around his neck and plant my lips on his.  
Sly's whole body tenses in shock at feeling me take this action, but this lasts only a second before a pair of arms, that are obviously strengthened by the joy my Ringtail must be feeling, wrap themselves around me, encasing me and pulling me ever closer to that muscular body of the only animal my heart has ever felt true love for.  
And while being held in those powerful arms do I finally feel relieved, do I finally feel comforted and do I finally feel that I truly have a chance to get rid of my disgusting stalker, his lower than low intentions and his lowlife, uncaring boss as I just know that this Raccoon before me will fight the world to make me feel safe again.

_**Robert's POV  
**__**Two days later**_

I don't know what Carm-Carm was planning when she opened up that stupid closet where she keeps all of my gifts or why she was taking pictures of it all, including my latest little gift, but I could already tell, when she left for another apparent case, that I just wouldn't have enough time to plant another little gift before her return.  
This had been the right belief as the Fox had only been gone for four hours max, making me know that my dad must have put her on some simple little security job or something and while I believe it almost too rich that my father keeps covering for me, only because I joined his profession, have I been making use of that for years.  
Having found a certain brothel that specializes in ladies with large upper body packages, had I promised them the biggest and the best in all of Paris, in return that I could have all the time I needed to bend her and that I would be allowed to call first shots on her, which the brothel chief had agreed to as he despised virgins in his business.

This had only made me more ecstatic for who I had picked as Carmelita – even in college – never so much as looked at another man or woman and even now that she is a world-famous Interpol Inspector has she yet to try and settle down with anyone she might like – even if it's painfully obvious that her biggest case has a crush on her.  
Yes, Sly Cooper is definitely a problem as he not only lures Carmelita around the world and teaches her moves that even a cop of my father's rank would never learn, he also constantly flirts with her and even – according to my sources – while in the Italian city of Venice asked her if he perhaps had competition for her affection.  
This question, this stupid belief of his that Carmelita could ever be his, had angered me almost out of my hiding position and I had decided to remind Carmelita who she belonged with, sending an extra kinky suit her way when she returned, a suit she had – upon first sight – instantly packed in a bag and locked within her closet.  
I had not been happy with this, but I had seen in her eyes that the message had been received and that had been enough for me. By now I am just waiting to see what Carmelita could do with my latest gift as all she had done so far was stall it out on one of the dressers stalled out in her room, one far away from her bed and thus confusing me.

I really don't know what to think about this double-sided message as she hadn't hidden it like she usually does, yet she hadn't put it on or laid it anywhere close to her person or to where she would pass on her daily self-preparation routine. Still, the fact that she hadn't stocked it away makes me feel that I have come just one step closer.  
This makes me smile and by now it's midnight on the third night after I stalled out the little suit for her to see and on the second night after her supposed little short-termed security job and once again do I thank Paris, France, for its magnificent clear skies as the moon is shining behind me, right into Carmelita's bedroom.  
Yes, the fox had closed the curtains, but I had already installed little moving automatons in the rings at the top of the curtains and now, while I feel certain that Carmelita is asleep, activate them to open the curtains once again, only to open them to a sight I had not wanted – or ever expected – to see in all my days working here.

Grey fur, a black mask covering a pair of brown eyes, a single wooden cane with golden tip held in a blue-gloved hand, a pair of muscles covering a torso that is covered up with a blue shirt with yellow neckline, a pair of blue boots and a stance that proves that the man that is looking straight back at me – means business.  
Sly Cooper, the Raccoon that has been chasing my girl for all these years, is standing in the doorway to Carmelita's bedroom, his eyes looking straight up at my – by the moon – alighted silhouette and his entire stance proving me that he does not approve of me having opened these curtains up or any of my other actions.  
He then uses the hand that is empty to open one of the balcony doors and walks in, his tread slow but powerful and when he reaches the end of the balcony, does he open his mouth and rudely ask me: "Didn't expect me here, did you now?" And while I glare at him, does this not seem to faze him as his face keeps its calm angry look.

Hating how I can't get a reaction out of this filthy thieving raccoon, do I ask: "What are you even doing there?" Only to get an extra shock as Carmelita walks out from the bedroom, actually dressed in her Interpol outfit and with her shock-pistol in one of her hands as she strongly answers me: "I asked for his help."  
And those words shock the living daylights out of me, almost making me lose the grip I have on the edge of the roof and while I recover myself, do I shout: "WHY DO THAT?" Making Cooper, who still is the perfect example of calm anger, raise his cane at me as he says: "Because she's done taking crap from rats like you."  
At this my fur bristles in anger and I ask: "As if you stand any chance with her!" But then I finally get a reaction and not the one I desired as Cooper actually starts to smirk at me and says: "I do. Carmelita – on the day she asked for my help – realized that everything I ever did was out of love – and that she had always felt the same for me."

And instantly I feel as if my job at the brothel is absolutely over, making my shoulders sag down in defeat before they tense back up in raging fury and while letting out the loudest howl my canine instincts can call up from my lunges, do I launch myself from the rooftop, grabbing my own batter cane and heading straight for Cooper.  
For the Raccoon to instantly respond by jumping up and blocking my attack halfway had not been upon my list of expectations and while the crashing blow between us actually makes me lose momentum, while Cooper actually grabs my cane with his free hand and turns us so that he is now facing Carmelita.  
Wondering what the mad raccoon could be up to, do I try to free my cane from his grasp, only to see him twist his body so that his feet are now also on my cane and to my shock does he use this to launch himself away from me, his cane being used as a grapple hook and making him grab onto a fire escape on the second floor.

I then look down and realize that I am heading straight for the ground, making me feel scared as I had jumped from a six-story building, but just when I look back up, wanting to curse Cooper, does a small something grab me from behind and lift me back up, making me float only a single floor of height above the ground.  
Looking at what caught me, do my eyes widen and my humiliation grow as I see a small yellow and blue RC chopper flying above me with a single small cable that has a hook stuck to my suit at the end of the line, the little toy flying machine somehow strong enough to keep my weight despite its own meager size and frame.  
I then look around, trying to find the controller of this toy and see a feminine mouse with blond hair and honey brown colored eyes steps out of the shadows, holding the remote control with one hand and actually directing the flying machine to come closer to her. Wondering what she could be up to, do I keep myself still.

Once I reach her, does she strangely enough use her free hand to reach into her dungarees and my eyes widen in shocked fear when she pulls a stack of pictures – that I am certain are the same ones I saw Carmelita make earlier this week – out of her pocket and does she actually push them harshly down my suit.  
She then moves both hands back to her remote control and says: "Time to take out the trash, would love to see how your daddy dearest talks you out of this one, you conniving fiend." And while she actually makes the chopper fly away do I shout out in fear as my mind whirs with the very thought of my father finding out:  
"Wait! WAIT! My father doesn't know ABOUT THIS!" And while this seems to shock and confuse Sly and Carmelita, who are both looking over their respective balcony walls, does it not seem to bother the mouse holding me captive as she calmly keeps walking and keeps directing the chopper in the direction of Interpol Headquarters.

_**Carmelita's POV**_

"Barkley – didn't know?" Goes through my mind in feared wonder as that is the last I heard coming from Robert before Penelope turned a corner and his sounds of struggling to get loose from the RC Chopper's hold get muffled by the buildings around me and while I put a hand on my chest, do I look ahead of me.  
Sly has taken position on the fire escape of the building opposite of my own and his eyes are worried and questioning as he looks at me, making me wonder if I really had done the right thing by believing that my own boss would allow for his son to get away with such fiendish behavior to people he's supposed to be working with.  
The Raccoon on the other side of the street reaches out a single hand to me, asking me without words if I feel alright and while part of me – a part that has been growing stronger over the last few days – wishes he would just jump over and take me in his arms again, do I now wonder about everything that has happened this week.

Hating myself for how I am doubting the action that I took as it got me a possible boyfriend and released me from the person that has been stalking me for four years, do I silently ask myself: "Why am I doubting the man that has helped me with more than just this one case? Why am I feeling like I should fall back on our old behavior?"  
And with those questions roaring through my mind, do I turn my back on the worried Ringtail and do I close my balcony doors and curtains, tears streaming down my face yet again as I don't feel as if I just solved one of my problems, but actually made them even worse and made me even more desperate for a possible solution.  
Still, even with the doors closed, am I able to hear the movement of the Ringtail I have been wanting to catch for so long and when I no longer do so, do I know that Sly has retreated back to his own hideout; the thought of mentally calling him by his first name making me feel even more confused and more in doubt with myself.

I dash for my bed and bury my face in my pillow, my tears falling harder and louder than when I had been in that same hideout, when Sly had held me without saying a single word and when he had just allowed for me to express my fear and pain before he had comforted me with only a single small kiss in my hair.  
Shaking the memory of this away, do I try my hardest to think: "No, forget that! You're a cop, Carmelita! An Interpol Inspector. Cooper is a Thief! He's – he's – he's the man I love." And while hating myself for being incapable of continuing my old stream of thought, do I cry even louder, crying myself to sleep.

All night my mind plays devious tricks on me, torturing me with nightmares about what Cooper could have done with the information I granted him or the ways in which he could have denied my request for my aid and more than once that night do I wake up, screaming his first name and then crying myself back into an fitful slumber.  
The next morning I feel even worse than I felt last night and while dragging my body out of bed and over to the bathroom, do I hate how even a steaming hot shower can't make me feel better, can't make me feel as if all of my bad and painful thoughts and feelings are being washed away by the flowing water moving down the drain.  
I then get out of the shower and do the rest of my morning activities, not really feeling like doing any of them, but at the same time wanting to know what happened to Barkley last night and how he'll respond now that a new team member of my target's team has actually forced him to arrest his own flesh and blood.

The thought of meeting Robert there definitely isn't a good one, yet my curiosity and my need to have peace with this chapter of my life get the better of my desire to just get back to bed and crawl under the covers for a few more hours of fitful crying and instead of that do I dress back in my latest bra and shirt and head for work.  
Arriving there on auto-pilot as I only paid enough attention to the road to notice when I had a red and when I had a green traffic light, am I shocked when, upon my entry to the door, Barkley actually embraces me with tears running down his own eyes and with his usual sigarette missing from his muzzle as he says:  
"Fox, there you are! I am so – so – so – I just can't express how sorry I was. Robert confessed everything. How he played me, how he kept – how he – just know that that brat is no son of mine. He's a High-classed criminal and he will be send to proper justice; him and the entire brothel line he worked for."  
This last piece shocks the living daylights out of me and I ask: "The – the brothel line, sir?" The man looks at me and asks: "You didn't know?" I shake my head and say: "I – I thought he decided to continue off on what he caused me during my college years." The man nods and motions me for his office where he says:

"I can understand your reasoning, Fox and I commend you on it, but sadly, your beliefs are wrong. Robert was send out to capture some criminals a few years ago and actually arrested them in some weird brothel that wasn't part of our database. Apparently he got in contact with the boss there and – well, they made a deal."  
Already I feel the fur on my face whitening with fear as I ask: "It concerned me, didn't it?" The man, now seated behind his desk, nods with his hands clasped and his head bowed as he says: "Robert was supposed to – prepare you for the brothel line. Apparently that thug boss doesn't accept ladies as clean as you."  
This both scares and embarrasses me as I say: "I – I just –." But Barkley halts me with a single hand and says: "I must say, Fox, until today – seeing your new outfit and looks – did I not really get what that thug boss was seeing in you, as his brothel specialized in women with a bigger cleavage than I thought you possessed, no offence."

I shake my head at this, not feeling offended at all, but still feeling strangely watched from the back, which I know is impossible as Barkley's front wall is made of iron and that the window in his door has the blinds shut from this side of the door and I say: "I – I have – I have your son to thank for my decision in wardrobe design, sir."  
The dog nods, his whole face showing he understands what I am trying to say without words and he asks: "Shall we just wrap this up? Robert's already been moved to a different section of Interpol and he will soon be receiving word of his pre-trial sentence. Rest assured, Carmelita, just that sentence will include a good decade or two."  
At this I smile and then I want to stand up, but Barkley halts me with his hand again and says: "We still need to address one last matter, Fox. One of great importance, actually." This confuses me and then shock makes my entire body tense as a warm, suave voice sounds from behind me and softly says: "Carmelita."

I turn my head around and see Cooper actually appear from the shadows caused by Barkley's hat stand, his face unreadable, while his eyes are the very epitome of the saying: the eyes are the window to the soul as I have never seen them more filled with a strong mix of love, confusion, hope and despair than I do now.  
Knowing I caused this by turning my back on him last night, do I fight the urge to run for him and have him encase me with his arms a second time, not just to feel that strength again, but to ensure him that my emotions – as strong as I want to deny them – have not changed since he knocked me out and took me to his hideout.  
I then hear Barkley talk behind me and it takes all my effort to focus on his voice as my eyes are locked with Cooper's and I hear Barkley say: "The lad actually came with his little gang last night. Openly showed up to make sure I would properly arrest Robert and everything. And when we had him, Cooper refused to leave."  
This confuses and concerns me and while the emotions make it easier for me to focus on the voice of my boss, do I feel as if Sly's eyes are searching my own for the truth as Barkley says: "Lad said he wanted to make an ultimatum with me, one I had to offer you in his presence or he would bust out whoever he thought valuable to his team."

This reminds me of how Cooper, over the last few months, has been gathering new allies for some reason or another and while this thought makes it easier for me to keep Sly from reading my mind and heart, do I – with effort – turn away from the questioning Ringtail and back to my superior as I hesitantly ask him:  
"What's the ultimatum?" But Barkley only motions back for Sly, making me hate him for doing so as I turn back to the Ringtail, who speaks: "I gave the chief two choices, Carmelita, and we agreed that you should be the one to decide between them. Just – understand that with these choices – you decide on a very valuable treasure."  
And instantly I get the hint the Ringtail throws at me, hating how he is using my words against me, but feeling too pained and confused by everything that happened over the last twenty-four hours to get angry over it and while – with heart-wrenching effort – keeping my eyes on the now very stern Cooper before me, do I ask:

"What are the choices?" And my heart practically stops as Cooper answers: "Either you deny what we had in the hideout and I turn myself in as it will just mean that I will never have the chance with you that I always wanted and dreamed off. Or you admit to what we shared and Interpol will accept you as Honorary Cooper Gang member."  
The first part of this speech makes me gasp in shocked, pained fear and despair, while the second makes me want to cry as hard as I have been doing last night and actually makes new tears appear in my eyes, yet the end – at first – gives me new hope and then shocks me silent as I had never expected to hear those words.  
I look from Cooper to Barkley and back, part of me wondering if I'm not just having another nightmare and if this won't just be the part where I myself will become the cause of my terrible nighttime vision, yet both of them look back at me with imploring looks, proving how badly they both desire an answer from me.

Feeling floored with the fact that this is no dream, that I am not going to wake from a nighttime terror with myself starring as the boogeyman or something, do I contemplate the words a second time before I suddenly feel like having an epiphany as this whole speech is the sole cause for me to have turned my back on Cooper last night.  
I turn back from where I was staring at the ground and look back at Barkley as I ask: "Is that last part of what Cooper said a guarantee?" The Dog nods, while I can feel Cooper's curious gaze still grazing the back of my head and Barkley says: "I actually discussed it with my superiors and they are more than okay with it.  
Apparently they realized all the potential Cooper has allowed to release within you and how he has – over the years – been helping you catch criminals we could only dream of gathering evidence on. That gang might be a bunch of thieves, but even my superior boss can recognize them to having the honor of an Interpol Superior."

And these words, spoken by my boss with such amazing pride, makes me feel as if the weight of everything I have done over the last week has been lifted off of my heart, shoulders and chest and makes me respond in the only way my body is shouting at me to do; I rush at Cooper and wrap my arms around his neck.  
Burying my face in the fur of his neck, do I feel a pair of shocked arms wrap themselves around my waist as Cooper asks: "You – you admit to – to what we had?" And while his shock and confusion make me feel hurt inside, do I know that my own actions are to blame for this and do I decide to rectify that once and for all.  
I lift my head from his neck and raise it to let my gaze meet his, my eyes shining with the love I have been trying to deny to myself that I feel for him and while Sly's eyes widen as he sees this, do I not allow him much time to be shocked as I again delight myself by reuniting my lips with his own, kissing my beloved Raccoon.

_**Sly's POV  
**__**9 years later**_

That kiss. That one kiss at Interpol that pretty much made my entire life. It certainly is one I will never forget and that I have been making a tradition of continuing every year on that exact same date and time, something my now married wife Carmelita only enjoys too much to try and find a reason for me not to do so.  
It had been absolutely an amazing, emotional week as the pain of having to knock Carmelita down, the shock at what she had been going through, the anger that someone would do that, the confusion over her sudden change of heart and the happiness I felt at her accepting what we had had actually made me postpone the Vault job.  
Everyone in the Cooper gang had agreed to this, not just because they wanted time for themselves to process everything that had happened that week, but because they all needed time to realize that – while she was a Cop – Carmelita had become an official member of our gang – the second unexpected addition besides Dimitri.

Yet to meet with Carmelita at our hideout without having to fear for Interpol to bust down our door and arrest my friends and to have her cuddle up with me at the couch and sit by my side at the dinner table were not just great moments of enjoyment for me, they also helped the gang feel more comfortable around her.  
The Heist on the Cooper Vault itself had been amazing, terrifying, heart-wrenching and downright overwhelming as well and when I had been held in the strangling hold of the genetic monster Dr. M had made, had I felt terrible that – with my death – the Cooper line would end, just when I had finally found my one true love.  
Still, Carmelita had proven her amazing worth to the team, actually gathering the mercenary apes that she had with her during our capers in Italy and Australia and having them attack the beast just when I felt myself wishing for the pain to end. The problem? One of the apes hit me and knocked me out of consciousness as he did.

I know to this day that Carmelita had really let the ape that did so have it and that he was instantly degraded badly, making him ashamed of letting himself go like that, yet it had been almost everything that happened after that, when I had reawakened from losing consciousness that makes me think back on that day with amazement.  
While I had been out cold had my friends attempted to get back my cane, which I had thrown away when the monster first chose to attack Bentley. They had been incapable of doing so, but the fact that M. had the cane before I awoke and that the Cooper Vault door was still closed had put me on my guard for what he could be planning.  
My friends had agreed that it was highly strange of M. not to instantly access the vault he had been trying to open for the longest time and while Penelope had allowed me free range in the sky and while I had fought all of Dr. M's torpedo launchers and missile shooting creatures and had retrieved my cane from him, had I kept my guard up.

I had then reached the Cooper Vault door and had not only called for Bentley and Murray, but had also asked Penelope to send Carmelita my way, having had the desire to have my Lady by my side at my first entrance to my family's heritage, something the Fox had responded to with all her amazing speed and reflexes.  
Panda King had made sure that Murray's van could also reach the Cooper Vault door and after we had made sure that it was closed behind us, had Bentley left a few nasty surprises for anyone trying to break down the door. We had then descended into the first room of the Cooper Vault – and found the first trap with it.

A simple rope bridge had already been broken at several parts, something that had obviously been done on purpose and so only those with the Cooper technique of Rope Walking would be able to pass onto the next room. This had hurt and disappointed me, yet my friends had proven that they didn't care for this fact.  
I had still offered them the chance to learn it, saying it was about time I taught my family some new tricks, but both of them had argued with valuable facts proving that if either of them were to attempt it, they would fail. I had then asked them if they would mind me taking Carmelita along and they had again answered in understanding.  
The fox herself had been touched and overwhelmed by the fact that I was willing to share such an amazing event as this with her and I had happily taught her the technique needed to cross the rope, both of us doing so and Carmelita laughing as I had commented on the possible darkness after we had passed the door to the vault.

The challenges after this had been hazardous, but all the things we learned about my ancestors had been incredible and while there had been a few times where Carmelita needed to rely on my skill and equipment, such as my Climbing ability and my paraglider, had we both enjoyed the way she held onto me during these moments.  
She had also held onto my hand when I realized – through a very familiar portrait – that I had reached the part of my dad and we had both been a little worried when I realized that his manner of protecting the next part of the cave relied on a technique he had never gotten to teach me or write down in the Thievius Raccoonus.  
We had both been gazing at the height the cave in which we stood compared to the ravine below us and at the technique dad had used to protect the cave, the strange way the lasers showed the Cooper Symbol confusing me until I realized that one of these beams wasn't done for that and was instead connecting the two caves.  
I had been highly worried at this point, wondering if Carmelita could come with if it concerned a technique I still needed to teach myself, yet my foxy lady had proven her worth, telling me I could take all the time I needed and that she would just watch me and learn from that, which she had proven once I had accomplished the technique.

We had continued, practicing some more in the hallway of the next cave and then actually reaching the inner sanctum of the vault, where Dr. M had again tried ending my life, yet this time it hadn't been my abilities, my girlfriend or even my friends that had saved me – it had been a pre-installed hologram message of my dad.  
Connor Cooper had spoken from beyond the grave and had expressed his apology for not being as close to his friends as he had been to his mum, apologizing for the idea that this had made Dr. M. be the sociopath he was today and offering the actual title of Guardian of the Vault, if M. was willing to return ownership to me.  
Dr. M. had been shocked at hearing the offer and had tried denying it, yet when he heard that the title meant he could have access to the Vault whenever he pleased in order to keep the protective mechanics of my family intact and add whenever a new Cooper was born, had he actually come around and agreed.  
My father had then told him of a small tube he had installed at the feet of the hologram and when Dr. M. had allowed for the deed to fall through it, had the deed ended up at my own feet and had a cane that almost resembled mine to the finest of detail shot out of the tube where M. was standing, the mandrill happy beyond words.

After that had Carmelita, Dr. M. and me actually found a back entrance through which we escaped, shocking all of my friends when we came out at the other end and while my team had wanted to attack Dr. M. had I stopped them and told them the entire story, needing Carmelita at certain points because of upcoming emotions.  
After that the entire team and the mercenary apes had all returned to Paris and only three months later had I finished what I knew was a Cooper Ritual of Courting and had I taken Carmelita aside while she was working at Interpol, taking her to where we first met at the Opera House and asking her to become my wife.  
The fox had been beyond ecstatic and the wedding had been held on a small valley that M. had made available for us, having taken down all of his security methods and relying only on his cameras viewing the back-entrance and the requirement of the Cooper Cane for the front, alongside his genetic guards that patrolled the island.

Everyone that had ever been important to me had been there and we had had the best wedding of the year, one that people in Miami and other islands still try and fail to overdo according to some of the news reports I hear from Dr. M. Still, the news that had come in the second month of our married life had been the best yet.  
Carmelita had been extremely self-conscious and scared due to her trauma with Robert, yet she had trusted me during our wedding night and I had made sure that she didn't regret that trust for one minute of the entire evening, keeping my own needs and desires to an all-time low just to make sure she enjoyed herself in my presence.  
To then, two months later, hear that my thoughtfulness had been rewarded with an upcoming child had almost made me snap out of my self-control and had shocked and almost scared Carmelita, had it not been for how understanding the fox was about my happiness and how thankful she was for what I had done that night.

I then suddenly hear something that delights me to the core of my being as small soft feet are trying to sneak up on me, the paws pushing down on the floor itself just loud enough that I can hear them land and while pride fills my being for the umpteenth time, do I say: "Still too loud, Collin." Making a young voice cry out.  
Then another voice, this one older, female and absolutely divine to my ears, laughs and says: "Keep practicing, son. Maybe you'll get your old man someday." Making me snicker as I had never in my life imagined that my officer wife would encourage our 8 year old son to train himself in the arts of being a Master Thief.  
Yet Carmelita had insisted that I do what my father had been unable to and once Collin Samuel – as we had named our first – had been old enough to walk, talk and memorize things he learned, had I put him on my lap like my dad had done with me and had I started telling him stories of my time as a Master Thief and of our ancestors.

Carmelita herself had actually joined in on these tales, her face always showing how fascinated she was with the lessons in my family history and when – four years later – our little daughter Carmen had been born, had she told me that the time had come for a male and female Cooper to continue the Cooper Legacy.  
I had been against this idea as I had constantly felt fear for my daughter's life and while Carmelita had been touched at how overprotective I was of our only daughter, had she still convinced me to at least tell bedtime stories of my ancestors to our daughter and had we both agreed that Carmen could chose for herself when the time was right.

Carmelita then comes to stand beside me on the balcony of our penthouse on the highest floor of the building and while we both look over the buildings and out to all of Paris – Carmelita having little Carmen in her arms while standing beside me – does she then suddenly smile at me and say: "You sure went wild two months ago."  
And instantly I realize what the fox is implying as that was the same thing she told me when she started expecting Carmen and while I look at my wife and daughter with wide eyes, Collin actually making use of my shock to jump my leg with a loud _HAAA! Gotcha!_ Can I only think: "A third? A – a third child?"  
And just by looking at Carmelita, how she glows with happiness as she looks at me, how Carmen giggles in her arms as she sees her daddy's shock and how Collin is now looking from me to his mummy in confusion, is that amazing glow that comes off of my wife enough to confirm it; the Cooper line expands again.

* * *

_**And that is that!  
**__**I know, I know, there's no mention of Sly 4, the Ancestors, Le Paradox or anything of the like and there's no mention of what happened to the Cooper Gang. I KNOW! But I like this better and I might just make a sequel – NO PROMISES – which will revolve around Collin making his own Cooper Gang with his surrogate cousins.  
**__**Now, I know this story started out pretty bad and that it has a lot of high-strung emotions in it, but I kind of just wanted to focus on how confused and hurt Carmelita had been in Sly 4 and then implement that into a storyline based around the adventures taking place in Sly 3 and the post card – it just felt like a good starting point.  
**__**That is all, enjoy,**_

_**Venquine1990  
**__**PS. Yes, Parental Intervention will also be coming up pretty soon and it will also revolve around Sly 3, but it will have different events transpiring within the Inner Sanctum of the Cooper Vault. That is the only hint I am willing to give.  
PPS. Please, if you're a fan of my stories, go to my account and vote on my poll. It concerns five of my other stories that needs your guys' help.**_


End file.
